Do mods void my warranty?
These are just some simple facts I have gathered that may help answer some questions for some of you. I also have an attorney reviewing our warranty to give more insight. I will add his insight as I get it....

The following are extracted from a Service Information Bulletin issued to BMW dealerships:"Warranty does not apply to the following:Modifications of the vehicle or installation of any performance accessories or components attached to the vehicle which alters the original engineering and/or operating specifications or which result in damage to other original components, electrical interference, electrical short, radio static, water leaks, or wind noise.In addition, the warranty coverage may be null and void in the following situations:...if the vehicle identification number has been altered or cannot be read, if the odometer has been replaced or altered and the true mileage cannot be determined, the vehicle has been declared a total loss or sold for salvage, or if the vehicle has been used in any competitive event.In general terms, the BMW Warranty on a component is void due to modification where the modification, alteration or installation of an aftermarket part was directly responsible for the failure.Installation of an aftermarket part or accessory does not necessarily void the vehicle warranties. The scope of possible alterations is very large and therefore a listing of all situations would be impossible. Common sense must prevail and in a questionable situation the retail center staff should be asked for assistance by calling the Warranty Department....For example, a vehicle with a modified engine control module still retains all warranties provided and may in fact have additional coverage from the aftermarket supplier. A repair is not covered by BMW warranties if the modification has contributed to or was directly the cause of the failure.When unknown, modification of a vehicle can complicate troubleshooting and may result in multiple repair attempts. Over the years, BMW NA has been supplied with the VIN numbers of some vehicles which have reportedly been modified...."

1. Pages 32 and 33 of the Service and warranty Information Manual .This is
your warranty. It is light because most on the warranty is regulated by
federal and state law. It is not what BMW or the dealer decides

yea but if you put in a cold air intake and then later blow your tranny their reasoning will be
"well he put in this aftermarket intake system which gave him more power, so the car wasnt being driven as originally intended... VOIDED!"

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**If the possibility exists that you may have "failed" in either a normal or "epic" fashion, please follow this link.**

yea but if you put in a cold air intake and then later blow your tranny their reasoning will be
"well he put in this aftermarket intake system which gave him more power, so the car wasnt being driven as originally intended... VOIDED!"

hahahaha funny however that is not the case. I have an E60 M5 currently going into lemon law. Has straight pipes, CAI, pully, and quite a few other mods. Have blown 3 trans, 3 DSCs, and one clutch. This is all in less that 16k miles.

By the time the clutch went out they called it "abuse" saying I was abusing the clutch. They tried to stick me with 5k to replace it. I then pointed out that it is SMG. How can I abuse a clutch that I don't even engage? Then I got the "well let me talk to my manager" then all the sudden it was covered and I had nothing to worry about.

Another thing people don't realize is BMW dealers WANT to replace parts. They do not pay for this. They are paid by BMWNA for the warranty work they do. However they have to regulate it depending on the amount of claims they put in. This is why the busy dealers are more picky than the slower dealers. Which is why I purchase my car at One dealer and service it at another. :wink:

1) this is for the USA only. I notice there are a lot of people from around the world that are using this site.

2) The law states that if the modification damages another component the manufacturer can deny the warranty claim for that damaged component. The law puts the burden of proof on the manufacture. Not you. It is illegal for a manufacture to do a blanket voiding of your warranty because of a modifications. The reality is if it‘s reasonable that your mod had something to do with the problem, you should expect to pay for the repairs (when it is not clear cut who is at fault you can negotiate. some time the manufacture will pick up a portion). The one exception to this is a known pattern of failure. If there is a known issues (service bulletin, field fixes, recalls, or other documented problems) the manufacture must fix the issue, even if the problem could be associated to a modification.

3) some people think this is a big hassle. I’m just going to hide my mods from the dealer. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt me. This is a very common approach in the tuner community. I am personally against it because it resolves nothing and creates more distrust between the dealers and the car enthusiast. Make no mistake, its takes longer and is more of a hassle to be up front about your modification. But my experience with other manufactures has been that they will work with you once they understand their and your responsibilities. If you educate them and build trust, the problems go away. For those who choose to hide their mods from the dealer, be very careful not to defraud the dealer on purpose or by accident. Lying to a dealer to get them to pay an expensive claim is possibly a criminal act in your state. With the current zero tolerance for the tuner culture by most district attorneys and police departments you don’t want to leave yourself open.

4) From the E90 fourm posts it appears that BMW is new to people doing lots of mods to cars under warranty. They are still learning what their responsibilities are ( the lawyers know, but not everyone down the chain). IMO they are moving in the right direction, but still are learning. You need to be prepared to "educate” them if you are going to mod your car.

It Also helps to not be an ass as the customer when going in for work. Quite often, it is the dealers descretion if they want to void your warranty, or should I say, try and void your warranty. When I worked for BMW, we would have some customers the had a crap load of modds on their car, but never had a warranty issue, but, they were always friendly, understanding, and loyal customers. I have seen others that just hoot and holler over little stuff and are very demanding. They come of with a poor attitude right away and act as though everyone owes them something. These are the people that have a hard time with the warranty department.

For me, I have never owned a new vehicle, so I have never had to deal with warranties before. Being that our 135i is the first new car in a long time, and as mod happy me and my family are, would Dinan just be recommended if I want to sleep good at night and not have to worry about anything at all? lol

Well... Speaking from experience... dealers Have no problems with mods until they cause a problem. They try to blame the mod as soon as something goes wrong.

MINI - Had a Highly modified MINI and the dealer gave me crap about a couple standard repaird and i was able to argue my way around it. Even though a significant portion of modifications were installed by the dealers.

Subaru - I only had a Tune. Period. Blew after 3,000 miles... they Did not cover it under waranty (pulled some Goodwill "go F yourself next time" dodo) even though they told me at the time of purchase that i could go as far as stage two w/ no probs...

Short story long... When (not if ) you modify your car and IF (not when) something goes wrong during the waranty, expect a Hastle. If you Race, expect a Hastle.

If your willing to deal with the hastle... mod away... if not... think twice.

One of the biggest problems is that when they put a couple turbos on... you can tune the crap out of them and get a ton of power relatively speaking, and things break. They are protecting themselves. :shrug: MINI (aka) BMW has been relatively fair. Subu not so much.

__________________

Ben,

"Simone" 2009 BMW 135i, Sport package, roofracks!

Formerly: A much loved and appreciated 05 MCSC - PS/Blue canvas - sold "Da Boy"
and... a POS 2008 STI that blew an engine at 3,000 miles

Well... Speaking from experience... dealers Have no problems with mods until they cause a problem. They try to blame the mod as soon as something goes wrong.

MINI - Had a Highly modified MINI and the dealer gave me crap about a couple standard repaird and i was able to argue my way around it. Even though a significant portion of modifications were installed by the dealers.

Subaru - I only had a Tune. Period. Blew after 3,000 miles... they Did not cover it under waranty (pulled some Goodwill "go F yourself next time" dodo) even though they told me at the time of purchase that i could go as far as stage two w/ no probs...

Short story long... When (not if ) you modify your car and IF (not when) something goes wrong during the waranty, expect a Hastle. If you Race, expect a Hastle.

If your willing to deal with the hastle... mod away... if not... think twice.

One of the biggest problems is that when they put a couple turbos on... you can tune the crap out of them and get a ton of power relatively speaking, and things break. They are protecting themselves. :shrug: MINI (aka) BMW has been relatively fair. Subu not so much.

not trying to get too sidetracked, but i have heard that the new Subaru WRX engines were prone to throwing rods...design flaw...

I talked to a service rep at my local bmw dealer about putting down pipes and/or a tune and/or an intake (I read above that is bull about the intake which I know from my SI) on a 135i and he said that they would void the warranty (he basically said that they wouldn't even install them for me) but exhaust would be no problem. Would anyone happen to know the laws in texas regarding such things so that I could bring them to the dealers attention?

hahahaha funny however that is not the case. I have an E60 M5 currently going into lemon law. Has straight pipes, CAI, pully, and quite a few other mods. Have blown 3 trans, 3 DSCs, and one clutch. This is all in less that 16k miles.

By the time the clutch went out they called it "abuse" saying I was abusing the clutch. They tried to stick me with 5k to replace it. I then pointed out that it is SMG. How can I abuse a clutch that I don't even engage? Then I got the "well let me talk to my manager" then all the sudden it was covered and I had nothing to worry about.

Another thing people don't realize is BMW dealers WANT to replace parts. They do not pay for this. They are paid by BMWNA for the warranty work they do. However they have to regulate it depending on the amount of claims they put in. This is why the busy dealers are more picky than the slower dealers. Which is why I purchase my car at One dealer and service it at another. :wink:

Wow I guess the E60's really do have issues. A guy at my gym had to lemon his for the same reason. Makes you wonder just how German these cars really are now.lol.

hahahaha funny however that is not the case. I have an E60 M5 currently going into lemon law. Has straight pipes, CAI, pully, and quite a few other mods. Have blown 3 trans, 3 DSCs, and one clutch. This is all in less that 16k miles.

By the time the clutch went out they called it "abuse" saying I was abusing the clutch. They tried to stick me with 5k to replace it. I then pointed out that it is SMG. How can I abuse a clutch that I don't even engage? Then I got the "well let me talk to my manager" then all the sudden it was covered and I had nothing to worry about.

Another thing people don't realize is BMW dealers WANT to replace parts. They do not pay for this. They are paid by BMWNA for the warranty work they do. However they have to regulate it depending on the amount of claims they put in. This is why the busy dealers are more picky than the slower dealers. Which is why I purchase my car at One dealer and service it at another. :wink:

Great Info to have, Unfortunately there is only one BMW dealership in Alaska...LOL